


Human

by AllyInk



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: BillDip, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-10 14:24:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6988906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyInk/pseuds/AllyInk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been six years since that summer. Six years since Bill Cipher died. Six years since Dipper and Mabel Pines first came to Gravity Falls. Despite the events of that first summer, Dipper and Mabel continued to visit Gravity Falls every year.<br/>Everything on this particular summer was as normal as it could be in Gravity Falls, but when a new face appeared in the town, everything changed. The face was one that was undeniably human, but at the same time the complete opposite.<br/>Although he looked human, would he still be angry about the events six years ago? Or would Dipper be able to change the one and only Bill Cipher?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gravity Falls

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler warning for this chapter and pretty much the whole book.
> 
> If you haven't watched Gravity Falls through Season 2, then it is advised that you do not read this fanfiction until you do. Thank you!

Dipper Pines sat on the bus, alongside his twin sister, Mabel Pines. They were on their way to Gravity Falls, which both of them considered their home away from home. Their great uncles lived there, at a place called the Mystery Shack.

Six years ago, Dipper and Mabel had been torn from Piedmont, California by their parents to go and stay in Gravity Falls, Oregon for the summer. Although at first glance it seemed like a boring old forest town, the more they learned about it the more crazy it got. From Gnomes to a Centaurtaur, they saw and fought every mythical creature in the book.

Which book you may ask? Dipper found a journal in the beginning of the summer which held notes and observations of all of these mythical creatures.

He became almost obsessed with finding the author of the journal as well as the secrets of Gravity Falls.

In the end, the author turned out to be a second great uncle that Dipper and Mabel didn't even know they had, and their summer wrapped up with fighting and killing a dream demon called Bill Cipher.

They had some stories to tell when they got home, to say the least.

Dipper watched the pinetrees pass as they got closer to the small town, and with a jolt he realized that he had seen the statue of Bill Cipher pass by for half a second. Bill had terrorized them all summer and eventually tried to actually kill all of them. Even though he knew the demon was dead, he couldn't help but still have pretty terrifying dreams and thoughts about if he ever did come back.

After a few more minutes, the bus slid to a stop. Dipper nudged Mabel awake with a slight grin and they both ran out of the bus, pulling their stuff behind them.

Mabel beat Dipper to the Mystery Shack - which was a normal occurrence - and opened the door to the tourist trap.

"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford!" Mabel called, grinning widely. "We're here!"

In a few seconds, Stan Pines was walking out of the living room. "Hey there kids!" he said as Mabel hugged him. 

"Hey Grunkle Stan," Dipper smiled, also walking towards him. His uncle ruffled his hair, grinning.

"Where's Uncle Ford?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Eh, he's in the forest doing something related to some... thingy he found the other day. He'll tell you about it when he gets back," Stan said, waving a hand. "Anyway, you two go get your stuff put away and then we can watch some old reruns of Ducktective, sound good?"

Mabel threw her hands into the air. "Yes! Ducktective!" she ran into the livingroom.

"I'll go take it up," Dipper said with a smile. "She's too excited now, anyway."

Stan nodded, once again taking the chance to mess up Dipper's hair before following Mabel.

Dipper dragged the two suitcases upstairs, looking around the old familiar attic room.

His eyes fell on the window. He couldn't believe he had never noticed its resemblance to Bill Cipher. In fact, much of the things like rugs and windows in this place seemed like near shrines to the floating triangle.

Dipper then looked over towards the bed that he slept in while he was here. Resting on the covers was the goodbye card given to him by Wendy Corduroy.

It said 'See you next Summer!' and had the signatures of practically everyone in the town on it. Dipper smiled a little, putting down the suitcases and turning around to walk back downstairs. 

He didn't notice that the triangular window seemed to glow slightly as he left.

Dipper made his way into the livingroom, getting abruptly pulled the rest of the way to the chair by his sister. 

"Come on Dipper!" Mabel said excitedly. "Ducktective!"

"I think you're still twelve," Dipper joked, rolling his eyes and sitting down next to her on the ground in front of the chair.

"On the inside, I am! You know this, Dipstick, get used to it," Mabel crossed her arms, grinning.

"Right, right. Whatever you say," Dipper waved a hand to dismiss the thought and the twins became lost as always in the episode.

Soon, though, the door opened and several people walked through. Dipper and Mabel looked up.

"Look who I found!" Stan said, grinning. Behind him were Soos, and Wendy.

"Come on, you know you just walked into the Mystery Shack and saw us working," Wendy said, rolling her eyes and smiling at Dipper and Mabel. "Hey you two."

Wendy had continued to work in the Mystery Shack through all six summers that Dipper and Mabel had been there. They just honestly figured that she wanted to, she seemed to like it anyway. Soos pretty much ran the shop part now, he had since Dipper and Mabel were thirteen.

"Hey there Hambone, Dipper," Soos said with a grin. 

Before Dipper and Mabel could reply, the door opened again and Ford ran in, his eyes wide.

"Everyone! Something horrible just happened!"


	2. Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler warning still stands!  
> I thought I'd have this chapter out earlier, sorry for the delay!  
> Thanks for reading! <3

Everyone stared at Ford, who continued to stand there looking terrified about something, like they do in dramatic TV shows with commercials.

"What? What is it?" Dipper asked after about a full five seconds of nothing.

He waited another three seconds before standing up straight and brushing himself off. "I wasn't here to greet you kids. C'mere!"

Dipper rolled his eyes and facepalmed as Mabel laughed, "Grunkle Ford! I actually thought something was going on!"

"Yeah, like Bill was suddenly back or something," Dipper said, as Mabel ran over to Ford and hugged him.

"Psh, no. The statue hasn't changed at all in the past year or two. We're fine," Ford waved a hand dismissively. "Seriously like that demon could ever come back. He's dead. Gone."

"I don't know. I mean, Gravity Falls is pretty unpredictable," Wendy said, tilting her head. "Anything could happen."

"Yeah. Like... imagine gophers everywhere. But... 50 feet tall," Soos said, his eyes wide as he did jazz hands.

Mabel gasped. "Oh my gosh! We have to barricade the shack!"

"I know! Let's go!" Soos said, and they ran out of the room.

"Uh... did that really just.." Dipper pointed after them, frowning.

"Yeah, we forgot to tell you, but there were a bunch of giant gophers that we saw not far from here. They disappeared, but Soos has been pretty paranoid ever since," Wendy said, crossing her arms.

"That's true. It's ironic, we're on Gopher Road right now," Ford said, looking thoughtful. "Maybe that has something to do with it."

"You overthink everything, just give it a rest," Stan said, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, nothing weirder than normal has happened around here lately, let's take advantage of it before it dies like it always does."

"Way to stay on the bright side, Mr. Pines," Wendy said, giving a 'really?' look to Dipper.

"It's my specialty," Stan said, crossing his arms proudly.

"Yeah, yeah sure it is. Oh, hey Dipper, I still haven't checked on the statue today. Want to join me?" Ford asked, turning to Dipper.

"Oh, hey yeah! Sure!" Dipper said, his eyes widening slightly.

"Hm, yeah I have to get home anyway. Have fun with things and stuff," Wendy said with a wave, before turning and walking out towards the shop again.

"I'll probably just go make sure Soos and Mabel don't break anything. That, or help them break it," Stan said in response to a look from Ford.

Ford nodded and glanced at Dipper. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go," Dipper said with an excited nod. Although it had been quite awhile since his whole 'journals' phase, the supernatural aspect of Gravity Falls was still quite exciting to him.

Ford led the way out of the shack and towards the woods. "I've been checking on the statue at least once or twice every day, you can never be too careful. Something still might happen," he said, glancing back at Dipper, who nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, it's Bill. He was a millennia-old dream demon who made horrible deals with people. People probably tried to kill him before," Dipper said, tilting his head.

"Yes, and failed. That's why we have had to be very careful with this," Ford said. "Almost there."

"Huh, the statue isn't as far in as I remembered, then," Dipper frowned.

"You've gotten older, everything's smaller for you now," Ford smiled a little. "Huh, here it..-"

Ford stopped, both talking and moving as the statue entered his line of sight. Dipper wondered why until he came to a stop beside him, looking down at it.

The statue of Bill Cipher, sunk halfway into the soft ground below, was half missing. The hand that once stuck outwards, as if the statue was ready to make a deal with you itself, was crumbled away as well as part of the triangle's body and top, its hat.

"Has it been like this for awhile? I hadn't realized so much time had passed," Dipper frowned.

"No. No, this is the first time it's been like this. Too _little_ time has passed, there's no way it could've eroded so quickly. That's impossible," Ford muttered, blinking. "Something's wrong."

"Do you think something hit it.. or..." Dipper refused to believe that there was any chance that Bill was coming back, or could.

"No. Nobody knows that this statue exists. Nobody except you, me, Stanley, and Mabel," Ford looked at Dipper. "Dipper, I think we may again be dealing with Bill Cipher."


	3. Choose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We almost have 100 hits. And I have only published two chapters.  
> Hhhhhhhhhhh.  
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this, I'm trying to write chapters as often as physically possible.
> 
> Thank you for all who have left Kudos so far! <3 Thanks for reading!

Dipper walked through the forest. It was night, and he was alone.

He technically wasn't supposed to be out, but his thoughts right now we're basically: _Why not? Not like anything'll happen anyway._

It had been a week since they found the statue half crumbled away. Ford was paranoid, Stan was overprotective, Mabel was trying to look on the bright side, all was normal.

And Dipper was fed up with it.

So, he'd packed up some supplies, taken the fourth journal his uncle had been working on, and went into the forest.

His target was the cave in which Ford had first found the runes to summon Bill. Maybe it would help.

Dipper had been walking for a few hours, when finally he saw the mountain looming up in front of him. The cave had to be around here somewhere. It had to.

After 30 minutes of searching, though, it didn't seem likely. Dipper sighed as he leaned against a vine covered stone wall.

And fell right through.

He fell backwards into the cave with a yelp and threw his hands behind him to stop his head from hitting the ground. Dipper quickly stood up and took out a flashlight, shining it on the walls.

This was it. Completely by accident, he had found the cave. Dipper was in so much shock from this, he didn't hear the vines rustling behind him.

Or the slight chuckle of the shadow behind him.

_**"Well, well, well.. I did not expect to see you here, Pine Tree. Isn't this a surprise?"** _

Dipper jumped and abruptly dropped the flashlight, it rolled away into the darkness. No. No, no no. That voice. It wasn't Bill, it couldn't be him... It was too... quiet? But who else called him Pine Tree?

"Nothing to say?" 

Dipper turned around to see someone standing there, an eyebrow raised, with the flashlight in one hand. ...What?

The man looked around twenty. He had olive skin and one piercing blue eye. The other was hidden by a triangular eyepatch, and he had golden hair. That was all Dipper noticed and all he needed to be sure.

" _Bill?!_ " Dipper gasped, taking a few steps back. He hadn't... expected this.

Bill chuckled, taking a step back and tossing the flashlight in the air, catching it again before tilting his head. "That's my name, don't wear it out, kid."

His voice was quiet. Not... magnified like it was before. Dipper was the most astounded about that. 

"Why.. how... why are you a human?!" Dipper demanded, staring at him.

"Well, not exactly like I wanted to be one, but hey, when you're on the brink of death you do crazy things," Bill shrugged, crossing his arms and looking pointedly at Dipper.

Dipper's blood ran slightly colder than before and his face paled. Oh. Right. The last time he had seen Bill Cipher, it had been when he helped to kill him.

"Still nothing else to say? Boy, you sure have changed. The Pine Tree I remember would be stuttering in that cracking voice of his about how 'it's impossible!'" Bill blinked once, continuing to stare at Dipper afterwards.

Dipper shook himself out of his thoughts. "Right. Well.. it is impossible, technically.. but... apparently it's not.. so I don't see a point."

Bill was silent before a second before he gave a bark of laughter, "Wow, you've really gotten smarter. Old Sixer must be proud."

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, not the point, why are you here?!" Dipper demanded.

"Why? _Why_ am I here? You must be as stupid as before then, shame. I don't have a choice. After you and your family destroyed me, I had two options. Death, or this. Well, I'm afraid the world isn't done with me nor am I done with the world yet," Bill said, his voice getting louder with each word.

Dipper flinched slightly. "But... we killed you," he finally said in a more quiet voice than he would've liked.

"Psh," Bill scoffed. "Don't you realize how difficult it is to completely kill a demon? Look, Pine Tree, when you erased Stan's mind, I was in it. So you erased me."

"Yes..?" Dipper said, frowning. He knew that..

"However, you only erased me in the mindscape. A physical form cannot enter the mindscape, unless it is incredibly powerful or incredibly stupid. I was powerful, not stupid. You never killed my physical form. Badly wounded it, yes, but killed? No," Bill said quickly. He obviously didn't like talking about this.

Dipper nodded slowly, frowning. "So in order to kill you completely we would have to kill you now. In your physical form."

"Yes, and maybe that's why I'm back. To kill you before you kill me," Bill said, raising an eyebrow. "Try to think sometimes."

"Well.. why haven't you killed me yet?" Dipper asked, blinking.

Bill leaned close to Dipper's face. "Right back at you, Pine Tree," he hissed.

Dipper realized what Bill meant by that statement. It was a challenge, wasn't it?

"I asked first," Dipper said lightly, after a pause.

Bill was visibly surprised by that. He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Why do you care?"

"Because I want to know why I'm still alive if you want to kill me so badly," Dipper replied.

Bill was quiet for a second. "Look, killing you isn't the reason I'm here," he said after a second.

"Then _why?_ " Dipper pressed.

"I can't, okay? I can't go back to the mindscape, I can't do anything anymore," Bill burst out after a second, he turned, walking a few steps towards the cave entrance and running a hand through his hair. "I have no powers, no idea how to be a human, and no way to contact the only creatures that would help me, even though at this point they'd just kill me."

He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "I have been here for three days, Pine Tree, three. I know enough about humans to know that if I don't do something, I won't last long."

Dipper stared at the former-demon in surprise. No powers? He was... completely human, then...

"So, what are you asking? For help? After everything you did to us?" Dipper felt himself glaring at Bill.

"I don't exactly have a choice, do I? Besides, don't you think you owe me at least a little for killing me?" Bill turned his head to glare back at Dipper.

Dipper held the glare for a few seconds, his mind racing.

Kill Bill Cipher, or help him? 

That was his choice.


	4. Marshmallows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized halfway through writing this how completely Tsundere Bill and Dipstick are being. I'm grinning like an idiot please help. XD

At times like these, Dipper hated himself.  
 Especially when it involved sneaking in and out of the Mystery Shack, stealing food and a blanket, and basically breaking every rule he'd ever set for himself.

All for someone who had once tried to kill them.  
 Dipper was a smart person.  
He had been able to get in and out without waking anyone up.

Barely.

But he had, so he guessed it was fine. He didn't even know why he was helping a former-demon who'd, again, tried to kill him and steal his uncle's mind.

He reached the cave and spotted Bill sitting against the wall, staring at the opposite wall. Well then.

"Hey," Dipper said, keeping his voice void of any emotion whatsoever. 

Bill looked up, blinking once. "You actually came back," he sounded legitimately surprised.

"I don't tend to break promises," Dipper replied coldly. 

Bill grimaced. "Look, I've already expressed that I have made not-so-great choices, but come on, it's what I did. Demon. Kind of all in the package," he said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever," Dipper rolled his eyes and tossed the blanket at Bill. "Just... know that I'm actually trusting that you're not going to slit our throats while we sleep."

Bill just huffed and looked away, scowling at the back of the cave.

Dipper rolled his eyes and sat down on the other side of the cave, which to be honest didn't leave much room between himself and Bill, but it was something.

"I have food too," Dipper said hesitantly after a second.

Bill had the blanket wrapped around himself at this point and was just glowering at the back of the cave, but Dipper did see him glance towards him at the mention of food. 

Ah, right, he hadn't eaten in... centuries. Huh.

Dipper raised an eyebrow and looked down at his backpack, opening it. "I didn't get too much actual real food, I just sort of grabbed what I could find and ran."

He pulled out two things: a bag of marshmallows and some soda.

God why did he have to bring soda.

Bill narrowed his eye slightly. "Why did you bring.. is this supposed to be ironic or something?"

Dipper's eyes widened slightly in indignation. "Look, again, I just grabbed what I could and ran. I didn't realize what I was grabbing. So you can either shut up and eat the stupid food or I'll just take it back."

Bill glared at him but finally just sighed dramatically. "Fine, whatever, just give."

Dipper huffed and tossed the marshmallows at him, Bill caught them and after some bewildered looking at the bag, managed to open it. 

"So what are these?" Bill asked, blinking.

"Marshmallows," Dipper said, tilting his head.

Bill frowned and picked one up, looking at it before cautiously putting it in his mouth and chewing it.

His eye widened as he did, and once he swallowed it he looked up at Dipper. "I officially like humans for making these," he said.

Dipper had to actually hold back the urge to laugh. That was actually pretty adorable- no. No, brain, no. Stop.

No way he was thinking anything like that.

Bill ate another marshmallow.


	5. Fun and Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make this one a little longer, I hope you enjoyed it! *_*

Dipper made it back that morning before sunrise, which was just pretty much pure luck. Ford normally got up around then and he was taking a bit longer than normal, so he could get upstairs and into bed before anyone noticed.

Almost anyone.

"Dipper, hey, where have you been?" Mabel burst out just when Dipper thought he was safe, which made him jump violently.

"God, Mabel, you scared the living..." Dipper took a deep breath, sitting up and looking over at her. "I just had a dream, I went for a walk."

Mabel tilted her head. "What kiiiiiind of dream was it?" she asked, her eyebrows slowly raising as she spoke.

Dipper blinked, raising an eyebrow of his own. "Why?"

"Because I'm curious. _Plus_ , I'm your twin. I have a right to know everything about your life, always," Mabel said matter-of-factly.

"Wow, okay this is a news flash. I didn't realize I would never have privacy about anything," Dipper said, crossing his arms.

"You should've figured it out for yourself then!" Mabel said, grinning, then gasped. "Oh my gosh. Ohhhhhh my gosh, was it a dream about someone?"

"And you mean by that.. what exactly?" Dipper blinked, tilting his head.

"I meannnnnn......... was it a dream about _someone_?" Mabel's grin widened.

"Would you stop using multiple letters in your words?! It's annoying," Dipper burst out.

"Letters?" Mabel frowned. "You mean dragging out my words like thissssss?"

"Yes, now just stop! It wasn't a dream about anyone," Dipper sighed, looking away. In fact, he wasn't totally lying about having a dream. Before he had snuck out, he had had a dream about someone.

He might end up admitting it was a dream about someone, but... it was more like a memory. About their first summer in Gravity Falls.

"Dipper!" Dipper was jerked out of his thoughts by Mabel.

"What? Sorry, I zoned out," Dipper said, rubbing his eyes.

"Ha! I knew it was a dream about someone. Are you thinking about them?" Mabel asked, her grin widening... even more, Dipper didn't even know how that was possible at this point.

"What? No, urgh.." Dipper made a face. God, if he thought about Bill that way then he really would have lost his mind. 

"Then what were you thinking about?" Mabel pressed.

"The dream, okay? Sheesh, calm down," Dipper rolled his eyes. "It was just about the first summer we were here. Now I'm tired, I want to sleep." He laid down again and turned over, wondering why his face felt like it was burning.

He thought he heard Mabel whisper, _"Wendy!"_ , but he fell asleep before he could tell her off for it.

 

Over the next few days, Dipper made trips back to the cave with food. Mostly he bought food from the store so that his uncles and Mabel wouldn't grow suspicious.

Dipper hated to admit it, but Bill had actually grown more bearable over those days. He had started getting bored just sitting in the cave all day, so Dipper brought over some games.

 

Dipper and Bill both stared at the ground. They had never done anything more intense in their entire lives.

Ever.

Nothing.

Bill looked up, his eye narrowing. "D3."

"Nope," Dipper replied, grinning and sitting up straight.

"What the _hell_?" Bill demanded. "No, there has to be a ship there, you're cheating!"

"Mmm nope, sorry. You just suck at this," Dipper shrugged. "Battleship isn't for you I guess. C6."

"WHAT THE _HELL_?!" Bill yelled, staring at his side of the game in utter shock.

Dipper snorted. "I guess I hit it then?"

Bill groaned, falling backwards and putting his hands over his face. "I hate you so much," was the muffled reply.

"Feeling's mutual," Dipper still wasn't lying about his hatred of the former-demon, but at least this was a good waste of time.

"Huh," Bill huffed, sighing. "What else is there?"

"We've already pretty much played everything else," Dipper said, looking around at the assorted board games on the ground.

Bill sighed heavily. "And you're _sure_ that Sixer will still want to kill me if I show my face?" he muttered.

"Yes, if he finds out who you are. Which he will. I mean, you could always change clothes, get a less obvious eyepatch, try not to call him Sixer, stuff like that," Dipper said, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh, but those things are boring," Bill said.

"Is someone there?" a voice suddenly called. An all too familiar one.

"Oh, God, speak of the devil..." Dipper muttered, sighing.

Bill shot upright, staring outside. "What do we do?"

"Well, he'll kill both of us if he finds us here. So how about we play another game?" Dipper tilted his head, speaking quietly.

"Yeah, Pine Tree, let's play a game, this is totally the time for games," Bill whisper-shouted, glaring.

"Okay, shut up a second," Dipper said, thinking. "I'll go out there, distract Ford for a second, then you sneak out and run into the forest somewhere. I'll lead him away."

Bill tried to think of something to say in response, but he eventually just closed his mouth and nodded.

 _I still don't even know why I'm helping him.._ Dipper thought to himself as he stood up and silently brushed past the vines over the entrance. He walked up behind Ford and tapped his shoulder.

Ford jumped and spun around. "Dipper, you nearly gave me a heart attack," he said, blinking. "What are you doing out here?"

Dipper hadn't thought this out too well. 

"Well, I actually thought I saw signs of what might be a new kind of demon. Not Bill exactly, but close," Dipper said after a moment's thought. "It was over that way, but I just thought I would check over here."

Ford frowned. "Really? Hm. Well how about you head back to the Shack and I'll check stuff out here?"

Dipper nodded. As soon as Ford turned around and started walking off Dipper turned and saw Bill vanish into the forest.

Why did Dipper feel so relieved?

Oh well. Their game of hide and seek had definitely begun.

Dipper just wasn't sure if he was the seeker or hider. He quickly followed Bill into the forest and caught up.

"Bill-" Dipper started, and Bill turned around.

...why was he...

Dipper frowned at Bill. He looked like he was... about to have some sort of mental breakdown. He was breathing heavily and his eye was wide.

"I.. I can't do this," Bill said, his voice was oddly shaky. "I can't keep hiding. I.. I don't know why, I've been by myself for centuries at a time but.. but just being alone in a dark cave for a night is.."

Dipper stared at him in surprise. Not... only did Bill seem to have almost human emotions, but.. did he now have the mind of one as well?

"Hey, hey, Bill," Dipper said. He didn't know what to say. "It's.. you'll be.... okay."

How did you comfort someone that you hated?

But... if Dipper hated him, why was he trying?

Before he knew it, Dipper Pines was hugging Bill Cipher, and Bill Cipher was hugging back.


	6. Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ASDFGHJKL  
> I'm sorry it's been so long since an update, even if it's just been a week or so. I completely forgot about this because I've been pretty busy. I should be pretty free for the next week or so though, so expect two to three, maybe even four updates in that time.
> 
> I'm so thankful for all of your comments on this, the ones with praise and the ones with critique alike. It really lets me know what people reading like and what they don't and it improves my skill on this topic! Thank you again!
> 
> And I'm sorry if this is a little short, I just really wanted to get this out to people!

Dipper and Bill stayed in the forest for a few more hours. After the hug, Bill seemed too embarrassed to even look at Dipper, which Dipper was fine with to be honest. He was pretty embarrassed at his own actions as well. He wasn't sure what he'd been thinking, he just sort of reacted on instinct.

It _had_ seemed to calm Bill down pretty quickly, however. He had stopped shaking and was back to his old irritating self in a few minutes. He and Dipper sat on a fallen tree deep in the woods, just kind of sitting there. 

"When do you think Sixer will quit looking around here?" Bill asked after awhile.

"Not sure. Sun's going down, shouldn't be too long now," Dipper said, looking up at the gaps between the tree branches.

"And then I'll go back to that cave, right?" Bill asked, his voice sounding a little bit bitter. 

Dipper frowned and looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You humans and your instincts, they're... horrible, how do you deal with it? Your... states of mind, your minds in general. They're so simple. That's the problem," Bill muttered. "You don't understand the things that I know - that alone is enough to drive a human insane. Top that off with the things that I've _done_. That's enough to kill them. Drive them so much out of their mind at the least that they won't want to live anymore."

Dipper frowned, looking away and out through the trees. "What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything. I'm just saying that I've been able to handle the weight of everything so far, but... sadly the simplicity of your minds means the tiniest thing can push you over the edge, right?" Bill looked over at Dipper. "For me that might just be the cave."

"You're serious?" Dipper blinked, looking back at Bill.

"Would I be telling you this anyway?" Bill muttered, crossing his arms.

"Look, I... guess I would help you with that if I could, but there's no way we can do anything else," Dipper looked down. "Ford's bound to come back here at some point, and even if he doesn't then someone else will. We can't bring you back to the Mystery Shack, or someone will undoubtedly find you."

"Look, Pine Tree, I'm human now. How many people will recognize me like this?" Bill crossed his arms, sighing.

"Well, they're bound to notice as soon as they notice you're using your nicknames for everyone, if they haven't noticed your clothes already," Dipper said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on. How much could my clothes possibly give away?" Bill scoffed, rolling his eye.

Dipper looked back at Bill's clothes. The triangular eyepatch would be an almost instant giveaway to Bill's identity. The weird suit that he wore would help with that, and honestly Bill's appearance in general helped with that. His blond hair wasn't too unnatural, but the weirdly colored eye was just too much.

"Did you get to chose what you looked like?" Dipper asked after a pause. "Like, when this form was created?"

"A few things. Why?" Bill frowned.

"The triangular eyepatch, your suit thingy, your eye," Dipper said after a moment of hesitation. "That's what will give it away."

"Seriously?" Bill blinked in surprise. "That easily?"

"Nobody will figure it out right away if you're careful," Dipper said, tilting his head. "But they will fairly quickly. So if you're going to stop staying in the woods, you're going to need to get new clothes that won't put you in constant danger."

"Why do you care so much?" Bill stared at Dipper, his eye wide. "I mean... seriously."

"I'm trying to help. Don't make me explain why, because I don't know," Dipper shook his head. "Just listen. You'll need to get different clothes and find another way to hide your other eye."

"Right. Okay," he replied, crossing his arms and sighing a bit. "Then what?"

"Well, the problem with my family is that Ford's smart, Stan's smarter than he looks, and Mabel's oddly right all the time," Dipper said thoughtfully. "And there aren't many places to stay in town."

"Okay?" Bill said, looking fairly confused.

"So if we want you to stay anywhere, it would be the Mystery Shack," Dipper said. "But here's the problem. Ford can't see you, Stan can't see you, and we need to be very careful with Mabel."

"You're saying I need to hide in plain sight, then," Bill said, crossing his arms.

"Yes," Dipper said. "Are you ready?"

"Now?" Bill frowned.

"When else?" Dipper stood up, holding out a hand. "Let's do this."

Bill hesitated a second before taking Dipper's hand, standing up. "Ready."

Dipper nodded, letting his hand fall out of Bill's. "Ready."


	7. Liar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I have a funny story.  
> I haven't been able to get this chapter out because I was at my friend's, doing stuff. So today I was coming back home, on a public bus, with that same friend.  
> I was reading BillDip to pass the time, and there was a smut scene in it. My friend, who's a guy, asks me, 'How can you read that with a straight face?'  
> I shrug and say something like 'I'm used to it.'
> 
> He just looks away. The next chapter of the book is pure fluff and I completely FLIPPED OUT, like full-on fangirl attack. And he thinks I'm crazy now. XD I mean, crazier than he thought I was before.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter! <3

Dipper tilted his head at Bill, narrowing his eyes.

"Hm," he said quietly to himself. "Okay, this should be fine."

He wasn't one for fashion, but he had to admit that Bill looked a little bit adorable- no. Stop. Ugh.

Dipper had switched out the suit for a yellow sweater and black jeans, they'd taken away the eyepatch and just brushed Bill's hair over his other eye, and that was it.

He looked... surprisingly different.

"You sure?" Bill made a face, crossing his arms. "I don't like it."

"Too bad, this is what we have to do," Dipper said. "But this is only for if you get caught. We can hide you upstairs, Ford and Stan don't come up there often."

"Right, fine, whatever.." Bill muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"It'll be fine, don't worry," Dipper said with a frown. "Come on, might as well get this over with. Just let me head over there and check to see that everyone's gone."

"Okay," Bill said quietly, frowning.

Dipper turned to start walking away.

"Wait-" Bill suddenly said, blinking. "Pine Tree."

Dipper turned his head back to face Bill. "What?"

Bill hesitated for a second before stepping forward and hugging him. Dipper blinked in surprise.

Bill let go after a second, looking away. "Thanks," he said quietly. "For all this."

Dipper frowned but nodded a few times, tilting his head. "Maybe... you're okay," he replied before turning and quickly running towards the Mystery Shack.

What was that.

'Maybe you're okay?'

That was the most _idiotic_ thing he could've possibly said. Dipper seriously needed to sort out his thoughts sometime soon.

He reached the Mystery Shack, and looked around inside. Nobody was there. That was... some luck. Dipper just shrugged to himself and turned back to run into the forest. He slowed down as he reached the place that he and Bill had been and looked up.

What?

He stared into the small clearing for a few seconds. No, no this wasn't... Bill couldn't... had he... _lied_?

Bill Cipher was floating in the air.

Dipper couldn't see his face, but the second Bill landed he turned and sprinted away in a random direction.

"Pine Tree..?" the voice faded out as Dipper grew farther and farther away.

Bill had lied. He still had powers- the power of levitation and flight at least... but what others did he have? God, Dipper was such an idiot! Every time he decided to trust Bill, it was thrown back in his face.

He finally stopped running near the edge of the forest and ran a hand through his hair.

Why was he so upset about this?

He kicked a tree, gritting his teeth. "Goddamn _triangle_!" he yelled, his voice cracking.

Stop being so upset about this.

"Pine Tree?" the voice called again and Dipper looked to the side to see Bill there.

Nope.

Nope, nope nope.

Nope!

Dipper backed up a few steps before turning to run again. He broke through the forest and ran towards the Mystery Shack, just as Mabel walked by.

Mabel grabbed Dipper's arm as he passed, stopping him. "Dipper! What's going on, you look like you just saw a ghost-"

"It's.. It's B-.." Dipper stopped himself.

No, he had to tell someone.

Bill was nothing but a liar.

...why did Dipper want to keep his existence a secret?

"Nothing.. I just got spooked by something," Dipper muttered.

Mabel tilted her head. "If... you say so, Dipper..."

Dipper pulled his arm away and walked into the Mystery Shack, Mabel behind him, as Bill watched from the cover of the trees, slightly alarmed.

No. Bill was just a liar. He always had been.

And that would never change.


	8. Trust No One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha so I wanted to update this immediately because I sort of got the sense people were all antsy about the ending of the last chapter.
> 
> Sorry bout that.  
> <3

Dipper leaned against the wall next to his bed, skimming through the third journal. He hadn't even looked at the thing for years, but it felt comforting now.

"Dipper- lunch's ready!" Mabel's voice cut into his thoughts.

Dipper looked up after a few seconds to see her frowning at him.

Mabel walked over and crouched next to him, glancing at the journal. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?" Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"Let me name a few things. You have the old journal out, and let's see, you look like you've been crying," Mabel tilted her head.

Had he been crying? He hadn't noticed.

"I'm fine," Dipper said, looking away. He had an excuse for this. "They started getting worse."

"Are you serious?" Mabel blinked, her eyes widening in dismay. "Dipper, why didn't you say anything?"

When they had last seen Bill, he had tried to kill them. They didn't let it show too much, but after they got back to California, they were affected pretty badly by the whole thing.

Mostly by nightmares, or as the Internet called them, night terrors. Basically every night, Mabel, Dipper, or both would wake up without knowing where they were, thinking that Bill was back and trying to kill them.

It had been really bad for the first two or three years, almost every night. After that, they started dying down. The night terrors were no longer as frequent nor as violent as before. They still sucked, though.

But they gave Dipper an excuse for acting weird, so that was a bonus.

Dipper shook his head, "I didn't want to worry anyone."

"Dipper, that's stupid! As your twin, it is my job to worry about you!" Mabel punched his shoulder gently and Dipper smiled a bit.

"Thanks, Mabel," he said quietly.

"So, hey, if they've been getting that bad, I can stay here tonight," Mabel frowned.

"What? No, no, Mabel, it's fine," Dipper shook his head quickly. "You go and do your thing with people."

Mabel had been planning to see Candy and Grenda again tonight, and Dipper didn't want to ruin her plans.

"Are you sure?" Mabel asked, still obviously worried.

"Yeah, of course," Dipper nodded with a small smile.

"I'll be fine."

~~~

Dipper sprinted through a dark hallway, following a golden light, the only thing that showed him where to go. He gasped for breath, almost unable to breathe. He didn't even know what he was running from.

Suddenly the light went out and Dipper was shrouded in darkness.

He skidded to a stop, breathing heavily. He felt like something was there, and suddenly he gasped in pain and looked down to see something slightly shiny sticking through his stomach. He felt his hands shaking as he choked a little, tiny dark droplets of what was obviously blood falling onto his fingers as he raised them to his mouth.

"What happens next, Pine Tree?" a cold voice asked, and Dipper stiffened.

"Trust no one."

Dipper woke up, sitting bolt upright and gasping, tears stinging his eyes as he stared around the room. He felt like he was about to have a heart attack, and he still felt the dull pain of the knife or sword that he had been stabbed with.

"M-My name is Dipper Pines..." he started, slowly trying to calm himself down. "I am in Gravity Falls... Bill Cipher isn't here... he wouldn't come here... trust no one... trust no one.."

Suddenly he heard a thud and a grunt, and he jumped, staring wide-eyed at the window seat.

Bill was half-laying on the window seat and half on the ground in front of it. He scrambled to his feet and turned to look at Dipper.

"Get away from me-" Dipper hissed, shrinking back against the wall.

Bill took a deep breath, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Pine Tree, what the hell? Why did you just run off like that earlier?"

"Ha- like you wouldn't know," Dipper muttered shakily, gritting his teeth. "Care to explain why you lied about your powers?"

"You saw me flying, didn't you?" Bill deadpanned. "Oh, my god, I thought you trusted me, Pine Tree!"

"Trust you?! You said you lost all your powers!" Dipper growled, glaring at Bill.

"I did," Bill raised his voice slightly. "I lost everything, Pine Tree! When you were gone, I randomly started flying, okay? I didn't have control over it!"

"Sure," Dipper scoffed and looking away. He fidgeted a bit and bit his lip, shaking his head. "Trust no one... trust no one..."

"Pine Tree, are you listening?!" Bill demanded, frowning.

"Quit- calling me that!" Dipper burst out, glaring at Bill. "Just stop!"

Bill crossed his arms, "Look, I don't know what's going on, but you just need to believe me here."

Dipper fell silent. Should he?

No. 

"Why should I possibly trust you?" Dipper asked quietly.

"I can't give you a reason," Bill said simply. "You don't have a reason to trust me. You just need to."

Dipper blinked in surprise, frowning to himself. "I.. don't know if I can."

"Yeah. Figures," Bill said, shaking his head. "If you change your mind, I'll be in the woods." 

With that, Bill promptly turned and jumped out the window, zipping off into the forest.

Dipper sighed, putting his face in his hands. He couldn't trust Bill. Why did he want to?

Trust no one, the journal said.

Trust no one.


	9. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha... I need to stop making people sad from this.  
> It makes me feel guilty and then immediately write another chapter.  
> *dramatic sigh*
> 
> SO ANYWAY.  
> This chapter isn't as serious as the past few ones, don't worry. I feel like you guys have had enough emotional strain.  
> Hope you enjoy, love you guys <3

Three days had passed.

Dipper had actually tried to go back to the forest a few times... but he just couldn't. Every time he backed down, paranoia overcoming him.

He could feel Mabel's worry, and he could feel Stan and Ford's as well. Dipper was acting different, more distracted and jumpy than he had been. He had been questioned a few times by all three family members, but he'd just told them about the nightmare he had and said it was bothering him.

It was, but that wasn't the point.

Dipper sat in the window seat. It was late at night and he was staring up at the big dipper, something he looked at whenever he needed to think. Mabel was asleep, as well as Stan and Ford. It was a weird feeling, knowing he was the only alert person in the house. Dipper looked down from the sky and promptly fell out of the window seat after jumping violently.

Bill was on the other side of the glass, glaring at him. He pushed open the window and leaned an elbow on the windowsill. "Well hello. Long time no see," he raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?!" Dipper demanded, his heart almost literally beating out of his chest.

"Why haven't you come into the forest yet?!" Bill demanded right back, narrowing his eyes.

"Why'd you think I would trust you after what you said?!" Dipper glared at him.

"Dipper?" a sleepy voice interjected, and both Bill's and Dipper's heads snapped towards the sound.

"Crap," Dipper muttered. "Uh- go to sleep, Mabel, it's nothing."

"Did you have another nightmare?" Mabel looked over at Dipper and after a second, her eyes found the figure in the window. She jumped in surprise, looking back at Dipper for an explanation.

"Okay- Mabel, this is definitely not what it looks like," Dipper said quickly, standing up slowly.

"Who's that?" Mabel asked, pointing at Bill. "And why is he in our window?!"

"Okay, can't you see we're in the middle of something, Shooting Star?!- wait," Bill glared at Mabel then realized his mistake. "No. No, no no, wait, hold on-"

Too late.

Mabel's eyes widened and she got out of bed quickly, backing up. "Is that Bill?! Bill Cipher?!"

"Mabel-" Dipper started.

"How is he alive?! And human?" Mabel stared at him.

"Mabel..-" Dipper tried again.

"We need to go get Ford, he has to know about this!" Mabel said, turning towards the door and grabbing Dipper's wrist.

"Mabel!" Dipper cut in, pulling Mabel back towards him.

"What?" Mabel stared at him.

"Just- wait, let me explain," Dipper said, raising his eyebrows. "Okay? Calm down."

"Is this why you've been having nightmares again?" Mabel whispered.

"You've been having.." Bill started, blinking in surprise at Dipper.

"Shut up for a second," Dipper said to Bill, then looked back at Mabel. "Okay, yes, Bill's human. It's hard to explain and a long story. But, Mabel, he's... kind of different like this."

" _Excuse_ me?" Mabel asked.

At the same time, Bill tilted his head, "Really?"

"Yes, he's different, okay? Notice how I'm still alive- how you're still alive. Or at least still in our human forms as well. This isn't the same Bill as before," Dipper realized as he spoke that he actually began to believe the words himself.

Mabel narrowed her eyes slightly, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I think so," Dipper said quietly. "He hasn't tried to hurt me yet, anyway."

"Wow, Pine Tree. If you felt like that then you should've just come to the da-" Bill started, but Mabel held up a finger.

"Okay. So hold on. You two have been meeting up. In the forest. _Secretly_?" Mabel asked, a small grin growing on her face.

"Yes......?" Dipper raised an eyebrow slowly. "It's not like he could just come back- Mabel no."

Mabel's eyes had started doing that ridiculous shiny thing they did when she was excited. "Mabel yes."

"What is happening?!" Bill demanded.

"No, we did not- Mabel shut up. Mabel, stop," Dipper felt his face heating up.

"Oh. My. Gosh," Mabel squeaked, hugging Dipper. "That's adorable! You totally like-"

"SHUT UP!" Dipper yelled, quickly covering his mouth.

Mabel started giggling uncontrollably as she looked from Dipper to Bill. "That's so _weird_ but it's so adorable!"

"Any idea what she's talking about?" Bill looked at Dipper, obviously bewildered.

Dipper shook his head quickly. "Nope! No idea whatsoever! Hahahahaha! Sooo anyway, Mabel, you won't tell Ford or Stan?"

Mabel shook her head, still grinning like an idiot.

"Good," Dipper sighed in relief and looked at Bill. "Might as well come in. Close the window."

Bill climbed through and dropped to the ground, and Dipper sat on his bed, tilting his head and sighing, closing his eyes. That was over with.

He could've sworn he heard Mabel whisper, "Bipper!" as Bill sat in the window seat.

God this was going to suck..


	10. Ask Anything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was giggling uncontrollably while writing this chapter. I had to take like ten or so breaks XD
> 
> ....HELP. ME.

Dipper closed the window behind Bill, sighing and rubbing his eyes with a hand. "Okay you two, we're going to have to be really careful now."

"Obviously," Bill said, crossing his arms.

Mabel nodded. "Yeah, we need to make sure Ford and Stan won't find out. They don't come in here often, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Dipper nodded, frowning. "That means that Bill will have to stay in this room almost all the time, or in the forest when we can sneak him out."

"Okay," Bill tilted his head.

"I can distract Ford and Stan if you want. I actually won't even have to do that too often, since they go on a lot of their adventurey-things pretty often," Mabel shrugged, smiling.

"That's true," Dipper nodded slowly. "That'll definitely make it easier."

Mabel nodded, stretching and smiling. "Let's just handle the problems as they come," she said, tilting her head. "Like, where's he going to sleep tonight?"

"Right. That," Dipper had let literally all of the small details slip his mind.

"Floor's fine actually," Bill pointed out. "I mean, I have been sleeping in a tree the past three days."

Dipper grimaced a bit, "Look, I'm sorry okay?!"

"Whatever," Bill shrugged, sighing. "Doesn't matter. I had some leftover stuff to eat in the cave that animals hadn't gotten to yet, plus a blanket. That helped."

"Hm," Dipper tilted his head, shrugging as well. "Yeah, well.. I mean, we have that downstairs room."

"Urgh, didn't we agree to never go in there again?" Mabel shuddered.

"Oh. Yeah, right," Dipper shook his head, making a face. "Okay so that's definitely out of the question."

Bill frowned, "What...?"

"Don't ask," Mabel and Dipper said at the same time.

"It's not worth retelling," Mabel raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, for now, maybe Bill can just..."

"Mabel, let me just stop you there for a second," Dipper said, holding up a finger. "If you are about to suggest anything crazy, I advise you to quit talking right now."

Mabel grinned and continued talking, "I was going to say that maybe he can sleep in your bed too, Dipper. I mean, you guys are both.. guys. Shouldn't be too weird. Besides, your bed's fairly large-ish."

"Mabel-" Dipper started, his face reddening.

"I don't see why not. I'm fine with it, anyway," Bill cut Dipper off, shrugging.

"What??" Dipper blinked a few times, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not too weird, like I said," Mabel said, giggling quietly. 

"Mabel- I swear I will murder you," Dipper muttered, putting his face in his hands.

"Wait, what's the big deal?" Bill blinked, frowning. 

"Ugh, whatever, fine.." Dipper finally muttered, shaking his head. "Just- whatever, fine!"

Mabel wiggled her eyebrows at Dipper and snorted, chuckling. "Wow, stop freaking out so much, bro-bro! It's no big deal, just calm down."

Dipper glared at her.

Mabel gave him a thumbs up before rolling into bed. "Okay! Goodnight you two!"

Dipper sighed, looking over at Bill. "Okay."

"Okay what?" Bill asked, tilting his head.

"Okay. I'll trust you again," Dipper shook his head. "It wasn't your fault that they decided to randomly reappear."

Bill frowned, raising an eyebrow, "Really? Hm."

"Yeah, let's just.." Dipper shrugged, looking away and sitting on the bed. "After the first summer we came here, I sort of... developed trust issues, I guess. Because of the whole 'trust no one' stuff."

Bill nodded slowly, "Okay.." He sat down next to Dipper, tilting his head.

"Something that helps me with that is sort of this... question thing. I ask you any five or so questions, you ask me five or so questions," Dipper looked over at Bill.

"Oh. Okay, so.." Bill paused. "Sort of like one of your games, twenty questions."

"Yeah, you could say that," Dipper nodded. "So... since literally everything's new to you, you go first. Ask anything."

"Oh.. uh... okay.." Bill blinked a few times. "Well... first, I guess, why did you decide to help me in the first place?"

"It's just a thing I decided to do. After years of it, Mabel's character rubs off on you. I guess I just believed that you could actually change, so... I just decided to," Dipper shrugged.

"Why were you so upset when you saw me flying?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"I think... because I felt like you'd lied again. I think I was mostly mad at myself for trusting you again," Dipper said quietly.

"Hm. Okay, why'd you freak out so much about the sleeping thing?" Bill blinked a few times.

"I freaked out about it because, to put it bluntly, Mabel ships us," Dipper said, his face turning red again.

"What... does that mean..?" Bill frowned.

"Um.. it doesn't matter. It's a weird thing.." Dipper shook his head quickly.

"If you say so," Bill sighed after a second. "Okay."

"Anything else?" Dipper tilted his head.

"No. I think that's it for now," Bill shook his head. "That was interesting."

"Yep, that's the point," Dipper nodded, smiling a bit.

"Thanks. For trusting me again, I mean," Bill said after a slight pause.

Dipper nodded again, looking down.

Bill shifted and laid down, sighing a bit and closing his eyes.

Dipper glanced to the side at him, blinking a few times. After a couple more minutes he laid down next to Bill and closed his eyes as well, relaxing a bit.

Maybe this wasn't so bad.


	11. Bipper, Dill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *endless banshee screech*  
> HOLY CRAP.  
> I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN FOREVER. MY COMPUTER HAS BEEN BROKEN FOR A MILLION YEARS AND AHHHHHHHHH.  
> Anyway please enjoy the chapter ;-; I'll get another one out ASAP

Dipper frowned a little bit in his sleep, letting out his breath slowly and blinking his eyes open after a couple seconds. Sunlight streamed into the room and, of course, hit him right in the eyes.

He shut his eyes again, sighing heavily and trying to sit up - although that wasn't exactly something he could do at the moment.

He glanced over to one side, frowning, then saw what was literally pinning him down.

Bill.

He felt his face turn a deep shade of red. A former demon was fast asleep next to him, one arm over Dipper's chest. He was ninety percent sure that this was where the 'iron grip' phrase came from.

It took about five solid minutes just to push Bill's arm off of him, but finally he managed to inch out of his grip.

Dipper rolled out of bed, literally, and hit the floor. He sighed a little and sat up, glaring at Bill's sleeping form. After a few seconds of this, he reached under the bed and grabbed the journal.

Not the third journal, Dipper was.... pretty sure he was done with that. He had been working on a fourth one, actually, that was mostly information about Bill.

At the time he'd started it, Dipper didn't see much point since Bill was 'dead,' but now it was definitely worth it.

He opened it to the first page and looked down, he'd drawn Bill as a triangle and had started a different one - human Bill - a few days back.

After a couple seconds of drawing, Dipper heard Bill stir and sit up.

"What'reyoudoing..." Bill mumbled, still waking up.

"A thing. Stay still for a second," Dipper muttered, glancing up at him before finally finishing it and closing the journal. "Okay."

"What was that?" Bill frowned, tilting his head.

"I drew you," Dipper shrugged. "Anyway-"

"You drew me?" Bill blinked in surprise, curiousity clear in his voice.

"Yes, now anyway, you probably can't keep sleeping in here.... we should check out that room downstairs," Dipper said, standing up after kicking the journal back under the bed.

"Ford won't check there?" Bill narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I doubt it. None of us have been in that room in awhile. Ford used to sleep there, but he moved into one of those rooms behind the secret vending machine..." Dipper paused, frowning. "I'm actually not totally sure why, but I'm not going to question it. It's Ford."

Bill grimaced. "Don't question anything he does. Trust me, his mind's... not easy to understand even for me. Anyway, the room."

"Right," Dipper turned and disappeared out of the room for a second, then looked back in. "All clear. Probably in the forest somewhere."

Bill nodded. "Yeah," he stood up, following Dipper out of the room and downstairs.

The two entered the room.

Dipper walked in first, not noticing that it was still the same carpet from before. He looked around. "This should work, right?" he turned and saw Bill nod as he stepped onto the carpet.

There was a white flash of light.

...

Dipper groaned as he blinked his eyes open.

Eye.

What?

He frowned a little and looked around. "Since when has everything been so smal...?" Dipper muttered.

There was silence.

"Holy crap I'm flying!" Dipper suddenly realized, gasping and promptly falling off the ceiling.

He heard laughter, and rolled onto his back to see...

"What," Dipper sat up, his forehead banging into... his.... forehead.

"Nice to see you're awake, Dipper," the other... Dipper said, grinning.

"Oh no, don't tell me you're Tyrone. I'm dreaming aren't I?" Dipper grimaced.

"Who's- oh, Tyrone. Nah. So this is the reason you don't like coming in here?" 

"Wait- Bill? How did.. Wait, if you're in- that means-" Dipper looked down and sighed as he saw exactly what he expected to.

He and Bill had switched bodies. 

Dipper shakily stood up, rubbing his head and closing his eyes. "I'm such an idiot."

"Not disagreeing with you there," Bill said, crossing his arms. "How do we reverse it?"

"We just have to stay on the carpet. It should happen eventually," Dipper replied, wincing.

"Oh, okay," Bill said. There was a pause, then he turned and walked out of the room.

"Bill! Wait, come back!" Dipper said, staring after him before running after him. "Where are you going?"

"Looking around. This is fun, haven't been in _this_ body in quite awhile," Bill grinned, glancing back at Dipper.

"Oh my god, just shut up, get back here-" Dipper snapped, grabbing Bill's wrist.

"Nah. Hey, aren't you even a little interested about how flying works?" Bill raised an eyebrow, smiling.

Dipper paused, then sighed. He was. Darn it.

"Five minutes," he muttered, then pulled Bill towards the door and outside.

"Okay, how do I do this?" Dipper crossed his arms and glared at Bill.

"Just sort of will yourself to fly," Bill shrugged. "Not that hard. Also happens sometimes when you're feeling weird emotions."

"Hm," Dipper closed his eyes for a second and after a few moments he felt the ground disappear. He looked down and blinked in surprise as he saw he was floating a few inches off the ground.

"Cool, right?" Bill crossed his arms.

"Trippy," Dipper replied, looking back at Bill.

"Hmph. You'll get used to it," Bill rolled his eyes. "I'm just happy with having double vision."

"That's normal vision," Dipper tilted his head.

"Normal for you," Bill retorted.

"Ah, right," Dipper rolled his eyes. Eye. Whatever. He crossed his arms. "Well, honestly I think it would be cool to fly a bit higher than this. Soooo.."

"Go ahead," Bill waved a hand.

"Uh-huh," Dipper zipped forward quickly and to his own surprise and embarrassment, scooped Bill up and flew into the air.

"Pine Tree!" Bill almost squeaked, then his face turned red and he looked away. "Warn me when you do that- I can't fly now, remember?!"

"I know," Dipper grinned a bit to himself. They started over the forest.

Bill was clinging to Dipper as if he was about to literally die, and his face was sort of pale.

"Didn't know you were scared of heights," Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"Not heights. Just falling," Bill muttered.

"We can go back," Dipper tilted his head.

"Hm," Bill closed his eyes, shrugging.

Dipper took that as a yes, and after a few more seconds, he turned and they started back.

"I won't drop you."

"Shut up."

"Call it a trust exercise."

"Shut up."

Dipper shrugged and they touched down after a few more minutes. "Okay, you can let go of me now."

Bill narrowed his eyes slightly and let go, dropping to the ground. "Okay, we're changing back right now."

"Finally," Dipper muttered, but quickly followed Bill back inside.

As they neared the room, Bill paused.

Before they stepped on the carpet, he yelled suddenly, "BILL CIPHER IS AWESOME!"

There was a flash of white light, and Dipper opened his eyes as he started cracking up. "W-What?!"

"Well, it was my only chance. You were never going to say it," Bill huffed.


End file.
